A Year Creating the Life I Want

It has been a while! Last year was a huge change for me. I moved to Japan and left everything behind. My friends, family, job and most possessions, art materials included.

A fresh start meant that I had the chance to really think about what kind of life I wanted to create for myself. I realised that to me, the most important things are relationships and creativity. Back home in Britain, I was always so busy. Too busy. I decided this time around, at my second go at creating ‘a life’, I wanted more balance. More me time.

It has taken a while but I feel like I’m getting there! After a couple of part-time jobs and essential money making. I’ve managed to set up my own business teaching English privately. Most English teachers here work long hours in school and that doesn’t work for my being less busy deal so I decided to go it alone.

Whilst I certainly don’t have as much money as those working crazy hours in schools, I have time. Time is so important! I’m also slowly learning how to best utilise my time.

To be honest, last year was probably not the best time to start a creative blog. I was trying to figure other aspects of my life out and felt quite creatively dry. This year, I’ve decided to be more experimental and free and try and find something to specialise in. I’m going to do this by trying my hand at lots of different things, beginning with water colours! Next week, I’m thinking of trying 3D model making.

I think I was trying too much to be like the blogs that I read and admire. I was also trying to be too polished. I’m such a perfectionist that it can be detrimental to my work! I want to get used to putting work out there whether it’s finished or not, whether it’s what I wanted or not, regardless of if I like it or not.